Commission on the Status of Women Sixty-third session 11 – 22 March 2019. Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls Agreed conclusions 2/10/

      6.  The Commission recognizes the importance of relevant International Labour Organization standards related to the realization of women’s right to work and rights at work that are critical for the economic empowerment of women, and to social protection and public services, including ILO Recommendation 202 on Social Protection Floors, and recalls the decent work agenda of the International Labour Organization and the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and notes the importance of their effective implementation.

7. The Commission acknowledges the important role played by regional conventions, instruments and initiatives in their respective regions and countries, and their follow-up mechanisms, in the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls including through promotion of their access to social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure.

8. The Commission reaffirms that the promotion and protection of, and respect for, the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls, including the right to development, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, are crucial for the full and equal participation of women and girls in society and for women’s economic empowerment and should be mainstreamed into all policies and programmes aimed at the eradication of poverty and the reduction of social exclusion. The Commission also reaffirms the need to take measures to ensure that every person is entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, and that equal attention and urgent consideration should be given to the promotion, protection and full realization of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

      9. The Commission reiterates that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development needs to be implemented in a comprehensive manner, reflecting its universal, integrated and indivisible nature, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting each country’s policy space and leadership while remaining consistent with relevant international rules and commitments, including by developing cohesive sustainable development strategies to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The Commission affirms that Governments have the primary responsibility for the follow-up to and review of the 2030 Agenda at the national, regional and global levels with regard to progress made.

10. The Commission emphasizes the mutually reinforcing relationship among achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It acknowledges that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and women’s full and equal participation and leadership are essential for achieving sustainable development, promoting peaceful, just and inclusive societies, enhancing sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and productivity, ending poverty in all its forms and dimensions everywhere and ensuring the wellbeing of all.

 11. The Commission recognizes the progress made in women’s and girls’ access to social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure, particularly in the areas of health and education. The Commission also recognizes that significant challenges and gender gaps remain, and that, in some contexts, progress could be undermined by budget cuts and austerity measures. The Commission stresses the importance of not reversing the levels of protection previously achieved and of addressing the remaining gaps that constrain equal access for women and girls to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure.

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